The History of Hip Hop

  

 

Today, people connect the word "hip hop" with a style of dance, but to many, it is more than that. It is a culture and a life style. It is the way they dress, the way they walk, and an all-around attitude.  Hip hop originated in theearly 1970’s in the Bronx, New York City. In this time period, that area was not necessarily a safe and happy place. So, a lot of people turned to this new culture as an escape.  The term hip hop broken down translates to cool party. Hip meaning cool and in style, and hop was a word used in the 50’s to describe a get together among friends where dancing was involved.  There are four elements that make up hip hop culture: DJ-ing (making music), MC-ing (spoken poetry), Graffiti (art work), and Breaking (dancing).

 The three original types of hip hop dancing were breaking, locking, and popping. These styles are very distinct and different in their technique. They are made up of key movements and characteristics. They are also the basis of all the new hiphop styles that have been created over the years.  

 

Breaking:

Breaking is comprised of mostly free style and floor work. It is done individually or in acrew and is used in dance battles. The most notable breaking moves are the Top Rock, Six Step, and Freezes. This is a very athletic form of dancing that takes a lot of strength and energy.  Dancers that are breakers are named b-boys or b-girls.

 

Locking:

Locking is a very animated style of dancing. The movements are very big and cartoon like.  Often times the dancers are dressed in red and white striped socks and over the top hats. Locking is frequently performed to funk music such as “Get Up Off a That Thing” by James Brown. Note worthy steps include the Uncle Sam Point, Which-a-ways, and the Wrist Roll.

 

Popping:

Popping is the third and final style of the original three styles of hip hop and is comprised of very sharp movements. These movements are performed by quickly contracting your relaxed muscle to cause a jerking motion. This motion is called pops or hits. The most recognizable movements in this style of dance are the knee snap, the robot, and ticking.

 

 

Hip hop has grown tremendously over the last couple decades. It is recognized all over theworld and has even made its way into the cheer dance realm. So come try one of our hip hop techniqueclasses at VCA today!

 

 

 

Author, Colleen Hoernig, Varsity dance instructor who has 9 years of advanced teaching, coaching and performance experience in cheerleading/dance- in the United States and around the world. Colleen graduated at Arizona State University withBachelor’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. She was the pom coach of Horizon High School pom team, a State Champions and Nationally Ranked Team. Colleen is really excited to be in China to share her dance knowledge and passion with the children in China!

 

 

 


Varsity Cheerleading Academy

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Website: www.varsity.com.cn

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